Pictures
by JuliaDarkness
Summary: Cat Noir has a vision. Aerrow finds an old picture. Memories are such a tricky thing.


**Author's note: I rewatched Storm Hawks this week and got inspiration. It's a shame they never got a third season, or closure. Let's hope that doesn't happen with our favorite French duo.**

* * *

Another day, another akuma. Cat Noir leaped over streets and buildings as Ladybug lassoed the legs of the thing climbing the Eiffel Tower. Even the danger couldn't stop him from feeling like he was flying. His girlfriend called out for him to use his cataclysm on the cord of necklace the victim wore. He did so easily.

The crystal fell to the ground with a cling. Cat Noir had seen his mother wear something similar once. A light blue crystal, that glowed in the sun. And in the dark, actually.

Cat Noir touched his head. A sharp pain stabbed at his brain. Ladybug purified the akuma, then instead of a fist bump she brushed her fingers against his check.

"What's wrong Kitty?"

"Just a headache, Bugaboo." Cat Noir winced as something flashed across his sight.

 _A steep cliff stood before him. The sky was vast and full of fluffy clouds. A little white creature was laying in his lap, a white bandage around one of his arms. He ran his hand over his fur._

" _Radar. That's a good name."_

 _The creature smiled up at him._

" _Really?" A little boy's voice, high pitched and eager, made him turn his head. He saw a crystal around the boy's neck. . ._

Cat Noir felt Ladybug's arm around his waist. Through his daze he heard onlookers' whispered concern.

"Come on, I'll take you home."

"I'm fine." He opened his eyes. "You're almost out of time."

"So are you. Then let's hurry then."

He let her lead him to her house. His head was still throbbing, and some hot tea and cookies would help.

* * *

Aerrow was looking through under his bed. There was an old map of Terra Nostra somewhere, he was sure of it. His hand brushed over books, boxes and an old T shirt. Then he felt the texture of paper. He pulled it out, and froze.

"Aerrow, did you find the map?" Piper peeked her head through the open door.

"Um, no. Just an old photo." Aerrow shoved the picture in a drawer. Piper nodded. She knew better than to ask. They were both orphans.

"Maybe it's in my trunk."

He found the map after a minute. They went to the bridge, leaving the picture lying in the drawer. Two little boys, one blonde, one redhead, both with bright green eyes, smiled in front of a small cottage. It must have been right before they found Radar. And that was right before it happened.

* * *

Marinette watched Adrien tug at her pink bedspread and avoid her eyes. Plagg rested on top of his shoulder. Tikki floated nearby, concern in her eyes.

"What's wrong mon Cheri?"

"It's nothing, just, sort of like a headache."

"Sort of?"

"It's nothing."

"Adrien." She cupped his chin in her hands. He looked at her with such nervousness. She pressed her lips to her check, like a butterfly landing on a leaf.

"Please, let me help you."

"Well, this isn't really something that can be helped. It's just, kind of weird."

"It's okay."

He took a deep breath. "When I was eight years old, I was in a car accident. I hurt my head. And, um, I got amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Marinette jerked her head back in shock.

"Yeah. I can't remember anything from before I turned eight. Except, once in a while, I have these visions."

"Adrien, that's not weird. A lot of people have amnesia. You were in a car accident, that's understandable. And at this age, those memories would have faded a lot anyway." She had just seen something on TV the other day with an amnesiac character. It was usually a condition on soap operas, but it wasn't that odd.

Adrien walked over to the window. Marinette tugged the bed sheet herself.

"It's not just that, Bugaboo. These visions aren't like Christmas with my parents or something. It's a strange place I've never been to. Somewhere high up, in the mountains. I see flashes of things, clothing or buildings, that look . . . off. I can't really explain it. And in a lot of these visions, like the one today. . ." He bit his lip. "There's a boy."

"A boy?"

"Yeah. A boy. I can never really get a good look at him, or hear much. But he's always there."

* * *

That night, after they docked the Condor at Terra Nostra's repair shop, Aerrow opened the drawer back up. Everyone else had gone to bed. That was the right time to do this sort of thing. When everyone was asleep, and the stars twinkled like in some song his mother had once sang to him.

It had occurred to him once or twice that his older brother should have been the Skyknight. If there was no chosen successor, it went to the firstborn. And his brother would probably have made a better choice. He had ran faster, jumped higher. He had read big books about crystals and battles. Nothing had ever scared him.

Aerrow stared at the picture until his eyelids closed of their own accord. He dreamed of the woods near their house. That was where they had found Radar.

 _Aerrow and his brother ran to the house. "Mommy, Mommy! We found something!"_

 _Their mother ran out of the house, her apron still on. "What is it?"_

 _They led to her to right near the cliff. They weren't supposed to go there, but only babies fell off terras. A small white creature huddled under some leaves. He made a soft noise as he shivered._

" _He's hurt," Aerrow's brother said. "I think something stretched his arm."_

 _Their mother bundled the little guy in her apron. "Well we can fix that. Come on sweetie," she told him as he watched her with big blue eyes. "You're coming home with us."_

* * *

Adrien and Marinette snuggled under her covers. Her parents said dinner would be ready soon.

"So do you think you have a brother?" She pressed her head to his chest and slipped a hand on top of his stomach.

"I don't know. I mean, there aren't any pictures in the house. I thought for a while that maybe he died in the crash, that that's the reason why no one told me. But Plagg phased through my dad's vault."

"Plagg!" Tikki glared at him.

"What? It was for a good cause."

"Anyway. I found my birth certificate, but not anyone else's. I even called up the hospital anonymously. Nothing. If I had a brother, it's like he didn't exist."

"Then what do you think the visions mean? Maybe a cousin? Or a foster brother?" Marinette smiled as her boyfriend ran a hand through her hair.

"Maybe."

"Why don't you ask your dad?"

"I doubt he would tell me. Even if there's nothing to tell. I just wish I could remember more. But it's like my brain is blocked."

"I'm sorry, Kitty."

"Maybe there's a way to unlock it." Tikki booped Adrien on the cheek. "We could ask the Master Fu."

"You think he could get my memories back?"

"It's worth a shot," Marinette said. She peeked up at him. He smiled.

"I'll think about it."

* * *

 _Aerrow frowned, his six-year-old face crinkled in confusion._

" _We're getting a daddy?"_

 _His mommy smiled. She sat him in her lap. His brother stood in the middle of their small living room, not taking a step towards her._

" _Gabriel loves you boys very much. We're going to be a family, my love."_

 _Gabriel had never told them that he loved them. But he had gotten them new clothes, real new clothes with no bits of cloth covering holes. He brought over cheese and sweets, too. And one time, when Aerrow gave him a picture of a red dragon he drew for him, he hugged him and called it beautiful. Aerrow liked him. His mommy liked him, too. She wore flowers in her hair whenever he came._

" _We're moving?" His brother crossed his arms over his chest._

" _I know you'll miss your friends, sweetheart. But think of it as an adventure. We're going somewhere far away. Back where I grew up."_

" _Will there be dragons?" Aerrow had read a book about dragons once. Well, he looked at the pictures. His brother read him the words. Dragons were awesome._

 _His mother ruffled his hair. "Maybe."_

" _Why do we have to move? Why can't he move here?"_

" _We're moving somewhere safer, my love. Somewhere where Cyclonians won't ever find us. You'll like it, trust me."_

" _No." His brother ran out the door. "I don't want to leave. I don't want a dad. I want to stay here where everything is the same!"_

" _Sweetheart, wait!"_

* * *

Piper usually knew to leave well enough alone. But when she went to call Aerrow to breakfast in the morning, she found him asleep on his side with a picture squished under his cheek. That was never a good sign.

"Hey." She touched his shoulder. He pushed his face off the bed and blinked.

"Morning."

She gestured to the picture now stuck to his cheek. He yanked it off.

"Um, it's just, you know."

"Yeah."

He scooted over so she could sit. He passed her the picture.

"It's me and my brother during the Summer Solstice. We got new clothes from my mom's fiancé, and she wanted a picture before the got dirty."

"You two look so happy."

She, Aerrow, Radar and Finn had met when they were nine years old in an orphanage. They had never talked much about their families. None of the kids ever did. When they were 13, a new man had been appointed head of the place. He hit Finn across the face his first night for speaking out of turn. The next week, they ran away.

Piper had no idea what his brother's name was. He had never told them. But she looked at that picture, of a boy holding Aerrow's hand and waving at his mom. They had the same eyes. He seemed so familiar-the same enthusiastic smile, the same confidence. The boy looked like he would gladly race a skimmer down an uncharted terra for fun.

"What was his name?" she blurted out before thinking as Aerrow put the picture back.

* * *

That night, Adrien dreamed of a man in a green jumper. He had sunglasses and a mustache and honestly looked like a mix between a sci fi soldier and a garbage man.

" _Leave him alone!"_

 _The man had the boy by the back of his shirt. Another man held the creature. Radar. They were in the woods again, right near the cliff. Adrien had ran there for some reason, and everyone was looking for him. He had been angry. Then he was scared._

" _Grab him!"_

 _A third man tried to grab him. But he kicked him right between the legs. The other two men took the boy and the creature. They stood at the edge of the cliff. The boy bit the man's hand._

" _Ow!"_

 _He threw him over the edge of the cliff. The other man shrugged and threw Radar as well._

" _No!"_

 _He tried to run, but a blue force field stopped him from doing so. He saw his mother there, holding a crystal._

" _Run!"_

 _The men jumped over the cliff. The sound of engines told him there was a machine below. As soon as the force field dissipated, Adrien ran to the cliff. He peered down into the sky._

 _The boy was gone._

* * *

In the dead of night, Gabriel found that, like so many other recent nights, he couldn't sleep. In his study he stared at a picture Adrien had drawn when he was younger. A little boy holding his mother and father's hands.

 _He held a sleeping child in his arms. A boy he hoped to make his son. A boy he already loved like his son. A boy with a weeping mother kneeling on the ground._

" _He can't, he can't be gone. He can't."_

" _We can't stay here anymore, Aurora. We've found no trace of him."_

" _But what if he's out there somewhere? What if he's out there and we leave him?"_

 _He clutched the boy tighter in his arms._

" _It's been three days. I'm sorry my dearest, but he's gone. And if we stay here, they're going to come for him, too. They know what his blood means. And he's the first born."_

 _She green eyes were red with tears he'd give everything he had to stop. For all his wealth, for all her power, they couldn't even keep a child safe._

 _Aurora held out a blue crystal that glowed with an intensity that almost made him uneasy._

" _He can't remember this, Gabriel. He can't remember any of this."_

" _No, you're right. He'll have a fresh start. He won't want for anything."_

" _And we'll keep him safe." She clutched the crystal tighter. Blue light enveloped them._

" _We will keep him safe, dearest."_

 _The light blinded him._

"I _will keep him safe."_

Gabriel put the picture away. Then he pulled out another picture, a dragon carefully scrawled with red crayon.

* * *

 _Aerrow remembered birds. Big blue birds, holding Radar and him with their talons. They safely set them on the ground on a strange terra._

" _Wait! Don't go! What about my family?"_

" _Your destiny lies here, Aerrow. In Atmos," one bird said. Aerrow frowned. What was destiny? Couldn't he move it?_

 _Then another bird sprinkled sparkling dust around him and Radar. It looked really pretty. Then he got really sleepy. Radar snuggled up next to him and they both went to sleep._

* * *

Adrien day dreamed through class. He could feel Marinette's eyes boring a sympathetic hole in the back of his head. Nino offered to let him eat lunch with his family, something Adrien usually loved to do. Nino's home was cozy and loving and full of Moroccan food. But he went home alone for lunch. He needed to think.

Was last night a dream? A memory? A mixture of both?

He hadn't expected to see his father home in the middle of the day. But he was in his study, speaking to someone on the phone in Italian. Adrien waved, but something on his father's desk caught his eye. A picture of a red dragon.

He waited until his father was finished.

"Adrien, how was school?" He touched his shoulder and tried to guide him out of the study. Adrien grabbed the picture.

"What's this?"

"Why, that's a drawing you made when you were very young. You loved dragons. You always had such a vivid imagination, you know."

They walked on to the dining room. Adrien stared at the picture. It was crudely drawn in red crayon. The wings looked more like butterfly wings than any dragon he had ever seen.

"I drew this?"

"Of course you did, Adrien. Who else could have drawn it?"

Adrien stared up at his father. He looked as calm and poised as he always did.

"How imaginative was I? Did I have an imaginary friend?" It made more sense than anything else he had come up with. And in a weird way, he almost wanted it to be true. He was already the wielder of the power of destruction. There was such a thing as too much adventure.

His father clutched his shoulder just a bit tighter. "An imaginary friend? You had a whole imaginary world."

They talked for a few more minutes about homework and a photo shoot next week. Then his father left. Adrien ate his lunch. He went back to class and kissed his girlfriend's worries away. Everything was fine. The boy wasn't real.

* * *

"What was his name?"

Aerrow stared at the drawer. Inside was an old stuffed cat, something he found his house. He didn't talk about his family much. It was painful, but not in the same way it was for Piper or Finn. He was pretty sure his family abandoned him. Wherever they had gone, his mother had been sure about one thing. It was where no one, Cyclonian or otherwise, would find them.

"Felix. His name was Felix."


End file.
